July 16, 1945 is a day many physicists, scientists, and the world will remember in the project known as Trinity where a weapons test was held in the deserts of New Mexico 200 miles south from the Los Alamos area where many of these scientists would create the atomic bomb. A day that was overseen by J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team as they would create a weapon that had the ability to destroy cities and thus create a world of destruction as it would also set a chain of events leading to the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that went on for nearly 50 years but also terror that would engulf the world in how it can destroy itself. The film is about the man who would help create the atomic bomb as Oppenheimer is a man filled with complications as someone who had theories about quantum physics and what it could do while is also someone with political views that leaned towards communism as it would later get him in trouble in the 1950s as he would endure a hearing in the era of McCarthyism.
Christopher Nolan’s screenplay doesn’t follow a traditional narrative as it is largely non-linear as it focuses on Oppenheimer’s early life, working for the Manhattan Project in the 1940s, his chaotic personal life, post-war life, and two hearings in the 1950s that would also involve Lewis Strauss as the latter revolves around Strauss at a Senate confirmation hearing as it relates to the former who is questioned over being a communist. The script also showcases a world in which Oppenheimer would see things as it relates to quantum physics while also going into a world where he becomes part of a social circle in the late 1920s/1930s involving those with communist views including a young woman in Jean Tatlot (Florence Pugh) whom he would have an on-off affair with while later marrying Katherine Puening (Emily Blunt) who would stick by him despite his affair with Tatlot that would end in the early 1940s. Oppenheimer’s work through quantum physics and its theories that included collaborations with Ernest Lawrence (Josh Hartnett) and Edward Teller (Benny Safdie) as it gets the attention of the American military as they learn about stories of the Nazi Germany creating their own nuclear weapon program under the supervision of German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg (Matthias Schweighofer) whom Oppenheimer met in the 1930s in Switzerland.
Working with General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) and his then subordinate in Lt. Kenneth Nichols (Dane DeHaan), Oppenheimer would work with the military as they chose a remote area in the New Mexico deserts that would become Los Alamos as they also recruited many scientists, theorists, and others to create the atomic bomb. Even as there would be other places around the country including a location in Chicago headed by Enrico Fermi (Danny Deferrari) and David L. Hill (Rami Malek) who would have their own ideas as they would meet with Oppenheimer outside of their respective bases. Nolan would also play into Oppenheimer’s own personal issues as it relates to the fallout of his affair with Tatlot and the chaos in his marriage to Katherine as well as the aftermath of World War II as he becomes the advisor for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission headed by Lewis Strauss only for Oppenheimer’s ideas to restrict nuclear weapon development has him at odds with Strauss who has a storyline about his 1959 Senate confirmation hearing.
Nolan’s direction is definitely stylish as it plays into recurring images of water, stars, and fire that play into the mind of Oppenheimer who thinks about the destruction that he’s created. Shot on various locations at New Mexico, California, New Jersey, and bits of Switzerland on 65mm large-format film and IMAX 65mm film in both color and black-and-white film stock. Nolan creates a film that plays into a world that is ever-changing while using its non-linear narrative to move back and forth into stories that relates to Oppenheimer’s life as well as the 1954 security hearing and Strauss’ 1959 Senate confirmation hearing. Notably as Nolan uses a lot of wide and medium shots to cover the vast look of the locations as well some of the hearings with the latter providing a sense of claustrophobia for Oppenheimer’s hearing as it also include these close-ups that add to the drama. There are also elements of surrealism for scenes at Oppenheimer’s hearing that includes him having to talk about his affair with Tatlot as they’re having sex at the hearing with Katherine watching in horror.
Nolan also maintains this sense of drama as it relates to Oppenheimer’s post-war life and the emergence of the Cold War such as a scene at a posh restaurant that is presented in both black-and-white and color as it relates to mood in how it would affect later events. Notably as Oppenheimer also deals with figures such as Boris Pash (Casey Affleck) and William L. Borden (David Dastmalchian) who would try and discredit Oppenheimer in different periods of time as Nolan’s direction would have his camera not show their faces at first or re-show a shot from a different perspective as it plays into the drama. The Trinity sequence of that famed bombing is among one of the key moments in the film as it is about where the camera is as well as those watching from afar where the bomb is about to drop. There is also this tense moment as the countdown occurs as there is a lot of tension but also moments such as Oppenheimer and General Groves having a moment despite their own differences. It all leads to the bomb exploding as it is a key moment in the film but it is followed in this aftermath including a surreal moment in what Oppenheimer realized what he had created.
Nolan’s approach to the hearings as it has all of this drama where Strauss’ aide (Alden Ehrenreich) pieces everything that Strauss had been talking about as it relates to Oppenheimer. Even as it plays into the drama over Oppenheimer’s past as well as Katherine’s past due to her own brief affiliation with communism where the hearing is this chilling moment where Katherine is being grilled by Roger Robb (Jason Clarke) only for things to backfire. Even as it would parallel with Strauss’ hearing where it would play into some surprising revelations into why he and Oppenheimer had a falling out. Its ending plays to a scene as it relates to Oppenheimer meeting Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) that is shown early in the film but its conversation isn’t revealed until the end. It all relates to a quote about Prometheus and what he brought to the world as it alludes to the troubled legacy that Oppenheimer would bring to the world. Overall, Nolan crafts a gripping yet intoxicating film about the man who would bring the world a weapon that would destroy it.
Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema does phenomenal work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on natural lighting for the scenes in Los Alamos and New Mexico including its usage of low-key lighting for the interior scenes at night while the black-and-white footage has a richness that play into the world that Strauss sees. Editor Jennifer Lame does incredible work with the film’s editing as its usage of montages, jump-cuts, and other stylish cut add to the drama as well as the usage of parallel moments in its non-linear narrative as it is a highlight of the film. Production designer Ruth de Jong, with supervising art director Samantha Englender plus set decorators Claire Kaufman, Olivia Peebles, and Adam Willis, does brilliant work with the look of the Los Alamos base including its houses, labs, and the tower where the bomb would drop for the Trinity project as well as the places that the characters lived in including the office where Oppenheimer has his hearing. Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick does excellent work with the costumes that play into the period of the time as well as the suit and Fedora hat that Oppenheimer wears as well as some of the dresses that Katherine and Tatlot would wear.
Prosthetic makeup designer Luisa Abel does terrific work with the makeup effects for a key scene in which Oppenheimer sees a young woman’s skin starting to peel away in a surreal moment as it relates to what Oppenheimer has done. The special effects work of Scott R. Fisher and Laurie Pellard, along with visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson, do amazing work with the visual effects with the usage of practical effects to create the sense of realism in what Oppenheimer sees as well as the explosions in the tests he and his team would create. Sound designer Richard King does remarkable work with the sound in the way certain gadgets would sound as well as the immense explosion of the Trinity bomb as it is a major highlight of the film. The film’s music by Ludwig Goransson is phenomenal for its mixture of eerie orchestral pieces as well as some electronic-based bits as it plays into the dramatic suspense and tension that looms into the film as well as the sense of dread as Goransson’s score is a major highlight of the film.
The casting by John Papsidera is marvelous as it features some notable small roles and appearances from Flora Nolan as the young woman Oppenheimer sees at an event following the Trinity project whose skin gets peeled by the bomb, Danny Deferrari as the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi who works in Chicago, James Remar as the then-Secretary of War in the 1940s in Henry Stimson, Emma Dumont as Oppenheimer’s sister-in-law Jackie, Macon Blair as Oppenheimer’s lawyer during the security hearings in Lloyd K. Garrison, Matthias Schweighofer as the German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg whom Oppenheimer meets in the 1930s, Jack Cutmore-Scott as Security Officer Lyall Johnson, James Urbaniak as the philosopher Kurt Godel whom Oppenheimer would meet in Switzerland, James D’Arcy as the experimental physicist Patrick Blackett whom Oppenheimer studied from at Cambridge back in 1926, Hap Lawrence as U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, Louise Lombard as Teller’s lover Ruth Tolman, Josh Zuckerman as one of Oppenheimer’s first students in Giovanni Rossi Lomanitz, and Gary Oldman in a superb one-scene appearance as U.S. President Harry S. Truman.
In roles as members of the team that helped Oppenheimer in creating the bomb include Michael Angarano as Robert Serber, Devon Bostick as Seth Neddemeyer, Olli Haaskivi as Edward Condon, Alex Wolff as a former student of Oppenheimer in Luis Walter Alvarez, Harrison Gilbertson as Philip Morrison, Jack Quaid as Richard Feynman, Josh Peck as Kenneth Bainbridge who would push the button for the Trinity bomb explosion, Gustaf Skarsgard as German-American physics theorist Hans Bethe, Christopher Denham as Klaus Fuchs who would later revealed to be a spy for the Soviet Union, and Olivia Thirlby as the lone woman in the team in Lilli Hornig who would play a key part in the development of the Trinity Project as they’re all fantastic in their roles with Angarano, Peck, Wolff, and Thirlby being the major standouts.
Other notable key small roles include Matthew Modine as Vannevar Bush who helps create the Manhattan Project, David Krumholtz as Oppenheimer’s friend Isidor Isaac Rabi who is also a physicist who is worried about the moral implications in creating the bomb, Dylan Arnold as Oppenheimer’s younger brother Frank who would help find the site for Los Alamos, Jefferson Hall as Haakon Chevalier as a friend of Oppenheimer with ties to communism, Tony Goldwyn as Gordon Gray as the head judge at Oppenheimer’s hearing, David Dastmalchian as William L. Borden as a government official who would write a letter to the FBI accusing Oppenheimer to be a spy for the Soviet Union, Dane DeHaan as General Groves’ subordinate Kenneth Nichols who would also try to discredit Oppenheimer in the 1950s, and Alden Ehrenreich as Strauss’ senate aide who accompanies Strauss during the hearing while trying to piece together Strauss’ relationship with Oppenheimer.
Tom Conti is excellent as Albert Einstein as the famed physicist/scientist whom Oppenheimer goes to advice over calculations as he would later meet Einstein years later in the 1950s as he laments over what Oppenheimer has created. Jason Clarke is superb as Roger Robb as a prosecutor at Oppenheimer’s hearing who is intent on bringing Oppenheimer and his associates down while Josh Hartnett is fantastic as Ernest Lawrence as a colleague at Berkeley who is aware of what Oppenheimer is creating though the two would later fall out for a time. Benny Safdie is brilliant as Edward Teller as the famed theoretical physicist who is a key figure that collaborates with Oppenheimer as well as coming up with the idea of the hydrogen bomb despite Oppenheimer’s views on nuclear weapons. Kenneth Branagh is amazing in his small role as Niels Bohr as the Danish physicist who is fascinated by Oppenheimer’s theories as he would be a mentor while also getting a look into Oppenheimer’s work.
Rami Malek and Casey Affleck are great in their performances in their respective small roles as physicist David L. Hill and Colonel Boris Pash with the former who worked in Chicago as he would later play a key role at Strauss’ hearing while the latter is a military official who tries to discredit Oppenheimer. Florence Pugh is incredible as Jean Tatlot as Oppenheimer’s lover in the 1930s who had communist views as they would have an unusual relationship only for things to disintegrate following his marriage to Katherine as their affair would later get troubling. Emily Blunt is marvelous as Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer as Oppenheimer’s wife who deals with her husband’s role and his affair as well as the things said about him where Blunt has a great moment upon being confronted by Robb at her husband’s security hearing as she destroyed him. Matt Damon is remarkable as General Leslie Groves as a military official who works with Oppenheimer despite their own differences as he sees the potential of what they’re creating as he also knows what is at stake during World War II.
Robert Downey Jr. is phenomenal as Lewis Strauss as the head at U.S. Atomic Energy Commission who would bring Oppenheimer as an advisor only to feel humiliated by Oppenheimer as he would have a falling out with Oppenheimer as he would later have a Senate confirmation hearing where he would talk about his issues with Oppenheimer as Downey shows restraint in his performance but also a lot of complexities into the character. Finally, there’s Cillian Murphy in a tremendous performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer as the famed theorist physicist who is called the Father of the Atomic Bomb as he is man that is filled with complications as he tries to figure out how to create something only to realize that he has created a chain of events that would trouble him. Murphy’s performance is filled with a lot of restraint but also anguish into a man who deals with a legacy that would haunt him as it is a career-defining performance from Murphy.
Oppenheimer is an outstanding film from Christopher Nolan that features a spectacular leading performance from Cillian Murphy. Along with its ensemble cast, immense technical work, a screenplay that explores a man’s troubled life and what he created, and Ludwig Goransson’s eerie music score. It is a film that is unlike many bio-pics as it focuses more on exploring the legacy of a man who would create a weapon for the world to destroy itself and the morality he would endure for his part in that creation. In the end, Oppenheimer is a magnificent film from Christopher Nolan.
Christopher Nolan Films: Following (1998 film) - Memento - Insomnia (2002 film) - Batman Begins - The Prestige - The Dark Knight - Inception - The Dark Knight Rises - Interstellar - Dunkirk - Tenet - The Auteurs #13: Christopher Nolan
© thevoid99 2023
(Winner of the Cannes Soundtrack Award to Daniel Lopatin at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival)
The film revolves around a robbery that gets botched where a mentally-disabled man is arrested and captured forcing his older brother to find ways to get him out of jail as he spends much of time getting money and such to get him out while being on the run himself. It is a film with a simple premise as it explore a criminal trying to do what he can to get his brother out of jail knowing that his brother is unable to deal with prison due to the fact that he’s mentally-disabled. The film’s screenplay Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein is largely straightforward as it follows Constantin “Connie” Nikas (Robert Pattinson) accompanying his younger yet mentally-disabled brother Nick (Buddy Safdie) for a bank robbery as the two wear masks and carry guns as they seemed to have succeed unaware that a dye pack is in the bag as it exploded leaving Connie and Nick on the run where the latter is arrested and later gets into a fight during his jail stay.
The rest of the film has Connie trying to get money to get his brother out as he asks his girlfriend Corey (Jennifer Jason Leigh) for $10,000 to get him out of jail but things get complicated as a bail bondsman revealed that Nick has been sent to a hospital following a beating. Connie decides to take matter into his own hands and things start to get more troubling as it puts him into a series of misadventures that included a Sprite bottle filled with LSD and other things along the way with a number of individuals involved.
The direction of Josh and Benny Safdie is riveting in terms of its sense of realism as well as the fact that it is shot on location in New York City with the borough of Queens being the prominent location. While there are some wide shots including aerial shots of these locations, much of the direction from the Safdies is grounded as the first shot is presented with close-ups where Nick is in a session with a psychiatrist (Peter Verby). There is this element of cinema verite that the Safdies go for in the action in their usage of close-ups and medium shots such as the bank robbery scene where it is all about notes and wit as there is no violence that happens. There are also scenes set at the infamous New York prison Riker’s Island that does give the film a sense of realism as if it was shot at Riker’s Island where Nick gets into a fight and beaten up badly. The direction also this energy in the way Connie would do to get his brother out as the hospital scene in the second act in which he sneaks in to try and get Nick out is filled with suspense but there is also an encounter with a guy he meets in Ray (Buddy Duress) who would have this dizzying montage about his own day as it is filled with a lot of misadventure.
Since the film uses its locations as characters in the film such as a scene at night at the Adventureland amusement park in Long Island. The Safdies also create this air of tension in which Connie had to use his own street smarts to get out of a situation but also realize that he can’t trust certain people. Even as this small Sprite bottle filled with LSD that is worth money becomes something he needs to get his brother out but there are also these revelations in the third act of what Connie had done as he’s also a fugitive with TV news reporting about what he and Nick did. Still, the Safdies do explore this air of danger into the world of crime and what this man had to do to help his brother knowing that they screwed up as he felt responsible for what had happened. Overall, the Safdies craft an intense and high-octane film about a criminal trying to get his mentally-disabled brother out of jail.
Cinematographer Sean Price Williams does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of natural light for some exterior scenes in the day as well as available and bits of light for the exterior scenes at night as well as the usage of neon lights for the nighttime interior scenes. Editors Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein do amazing work with the editing with its stylish usage of jump-cuts as well as the montage sequence involving Ray as well as other cuts to help establish what is happening without going too long or too short. Production designer Sam Lisenco, with set decorator Audrey Turner and art director Patrick Duncan, does fantastic work with the look of some of the places that Connie goes to whether it’s a home from an old lady or a place where he stole some keys from someone. Costume designers Miyako Bellizzi and Mordechai Rubinstein do terrific work with the costumes from the coats that Connie and Nick wear as well as some of the casual street clothes they wear as it adds that sense of grittiness into their look.
Special makeup effects designer Toby Sells and hair/makeup artist Anouck Sullivan do excellent work with the look of a character while Sullivan does a lot of the look for Connie including his dyed blonde hair in the film’s second half. Visual effects supervisor Adam Teninbaum does nice work with a few of the film’s visual effects as it relates mainly to Ray’s montage sequence as well as bits of set dressing in some locations. Sound designer Ryan M. Price does superb work with the film’s sound in the way overlapping conversations sound in a prison as well as the way police sirens sound from afar as it helps add to the film’s suspense. The film’s music by Daniel Lopatin, in his Oneohtrix Point Never pseudonym, is incredible for its brooding and gripping electronic music score that often helps play up the sense of drama and suspense along with a few ambient bits while Lopatin also creates a closing song with Iggy Pop as well as cultivating the film’s soundtrack that includes pieces from Frankie Ruiz, Mosley & Johnson, and Nike Boi.
The casting by Jennifer Venditti is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Eric Paykert as a bails bondsman, Rose Gregorio as Corey’s mother who doesn’t like Connie, Saida Mansoor as Connie and Nick’s grandmother who believes Connie is a bad influence on Nick, Peter Verby as Nick’s psychiatrist, Ron “Necro” Braunstein as Ray’s friend Caliph, Barkhad Abdi as an Adventureland security guard in Dash, Buddy Duress as a recently-paroled man in Ray whom Connie would find himself involved in trying to get some money and a Sprite bottle full of LSD, Taliah Lennice Webster as a 16-year old girl named Crystal who helps Connie out following an incident in the hospital as she also helps him in trying to get a few things, and Jennifer Jason Leigh in an excellent small role as Connie’s older girlfriend Corey who tries to help him bail out Nick only to realize the financial trouble she’s in.
Benny Safdie is brilliant as Nick Nikas as a mentally-disabled young man who is slow but not an imbecile as he is someone that is confused at times while also has a hard time socializing which makes him an easy target for the police as he would put himself in trouble with other prisoners. Finally, there’s Robert Pattinson in a magnificent performance as Constantin “Connie” Nikas as Nick’s older brother who is also a street-smart criminal that knows what to do but feels guilty for his action where Pattinson definitely plays someone who is a flawed person that is unlikeable at times but is also someone that at least cares about his brother and is willing to do anything to get his brother out of jail and find ways to get what he wants.
Good Time is a phenomenal film from Josh and Benny Safdie that features a great leading performance from Robert Pattinson. Along with its supporting cast, stylish visuals, gripping story, and a hypnotic music score by Daniel Lopatin. It is a crime film that explore a young man who is trying to save his brother following a botched bank robbery as he endures a series of misadventures to get money to get his brother out. In the end, Good Time is a sensational film from Josh and Benny Safdie.
Safdie Brothers Films: (The Pleasure of Being Robbed) – (Daddy Longlegs) – (Lenny Cooke) – Heaven Knows What - (Uncut Gems)
© thevoid99 2022
The film follows a young woman who is addicted to heroin as she tries to get her next fix while roaming around New York City as she also contends with her on-again, off-again boyfriend who treats everyone like shit. It is a film that is really the study of a woman who is homeless and needing a fix where she deals with trying to scrounge money for her fix but also contend with her abusive boyfriend. The film’s screenplay by Josh Safdie and Ronal Bronstein is largely straightforward in its narrative yet it focuses on the life of Harley Boggs (Arielle Holmes) as she roams around the city while dealing with the coldness from her boyfriend Ilya (Caleb Landry Jones) to the point that she slashes her wrists in front of him where she goes to the hospital. Following her release, she continues to pursue Ilya but also befriends the low-level dealer Mike (Buddy Duress) by trying to get money and such as well as be around him to get her fix. Throughout the film, Mike questions why Harley continues to be around Ilya who is cold and abusive as he is reluctant to give her heroin though he has to do whatever to continue his business as well as feeding his own addiction.
The direction of Josh and Benny Safdie definitely has a raw quality to the overall presentation as if they’re showcasing everything on location in and around New York City through a form of cinema verite. Yet, it is a style that does give the film that realism it needed to showcase the grit and grime of Harley’s own lifestyle as she would often sit in a place with a sign needing money while would often take part in thefts at convenience stores. There are some wide shots the Safdies use to not just establish certain locations but also wisely avoid notable landmarks of the city by grounding the film in the streets where they use medium shots to play into the characters in certain spots. Notably a scene where Harley and Mike steal some mail to see if they can find something they can make money from as it play into the way junkies and dealers survive.
The Safdies also maintain this sense of desperation of how junkies live and go for their fix as the usage of close-ups play into that desperation including these shots of Harley on a bed with a pink neon light all over her. The film also showcases some graphic moments of violence such as a moment early in the film where Harley cuts herself in front of Ilya to prove her love to him as well as a fight between Ilya and Mike. It is among these moments that do feel real but also in Harley’s own blindness in her love for Ilya even though a lot of what Mike says about him is spot-on as it does play into this cycle of abuse. The third act doesn’t just showcase Harley’s own devotion towards Ilya but also some truths about Ilya as he is someone that can show love but it is only fleeting. Overall, Josh and Benny Safdie craft a mesmerizing yet harrowing film about the life of a heroin addict in the streets of New York City.
Cinematographer Sean Price Williams does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography as it is largely straightforward to play into the air of realism where it is shot with available light for many of its exteriors with bits of lighting for some of the interior/exterior scenes at night. Editors Benny Sadie and Ronald Bronstein do excellent work with the editing as it does have some style in its usage of jump-cuts and other straightforward cuts to play into the drama. Production designer Audrey Turner and art director Blake LaRue do fantastic work with the look of some of the homes that the characters crash at as well as a home where Mike lives in.
Visual effects supervisor Adam Teninbaum does terrific work with some of the film’s visual effects as it largely relates to a key moment late in the film that would play into something big. Sound mixers Evan Mangiamele and Benny Safdie do superb work with the sound as it play into the natural elements of the locations as well as how music is played on a location. The film’s music by Paul Grimstad and Ariel Pink, with additional pieces by Isao Tomita, is incredible for its eerie electronic score that play into some of the dark moments of the film with some somber pieces from Tomita as well as music from Burzum, James Dashow, Headhunterz, and Tangerine Dream for its soundtrack.
The casting by Eleonore Hendricks and Josh Safdie do wonderful work as it feature some notable small roles from Diana Singh as a woman who let Mike and Harley live at her home as long as they pay rent, Yuri Pleskun as a drug dealer named Tommy, Mike Patellis as Mike’s supplier Marcos who gives Harley a motorcycle ride, Aaron Keller as a Hasidic man who gives Harley money to get high, Benjamin Hampton as Mike’s friend Antoine, Eleonore Hendricks as Ilya’s friend Erica who would be a girlfriend to Mike during his break from Harley, and Ron “Necro” Braustein as a friend of Ilya and Harley in Skully who is hoping to help Harley out following her suicide attempt. Buddy Duress is amazing as Mike as a drug dealer who makes Harley his assistant of sorts while also giving her the fix she needs while also having issues with Ilya.
Caleb Landry Jones is brilliant as Ilya as Harley’s on-again, off-again boyfriend who is quite cold and verbally abusive towards her as he is also someone dangerous despite the fact that he does have some love for her. Finally, there’s Arielle Holmes in a phenomenal performance as Harley Boggs as a young heroin addict dealing with a tumultuous relationship as well as her own addiction where she deals with a self-destructive lifestyle and lots of uncertainty as there’s a raw nature to her performance as well as showcase the reality of how junkies live.
Heaven Knows What is a phenomenal film from Josh and Benny Safdie that features a great leading performance from Arielle Holmes. Along with its ensemble cast, gripping character study, raw visuals, and a hypnotic music score and soundtrack. It is a film that explore the life of a drug addict as she deals with trying to find a home and win back her boyfriend despite the fact that he’s cruel to her. In the end, Heaven Knows What is an incredible film from Josh and Benny Safdie.
Safdie Brothers Films: (The Pleasure of Being Robbed) – (Daddy Longlegs) – (Lenny Cooke) – Good Time (2017 film) – (Uncut Gems)
© thevoid99 2022
Set in the San Fernando Valley in 1973, the film revolves around the relationship of a 15-year old child actor who meets a 25-year old woman at a yearbook photo shoot as they become friends and business partners through many ventures as they also encounter many misadventures and an assortment of characters during their journey. It is a film that is partially based on the real-life story of film producer Gary Goetzman who was a child actor in real life as well as being a young businessman where Paul Thomas Anderson uses Goetzman’s story to not just explore a young man dealing with growing pains and first love but also a young woman trying to find herself. Anderson’s screenplay is largely straightforward as it follows the many misadventures of the 15-year old Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) and the 25-year old Alana Kane (Alana Haim) who meet each other at the former’s high school for a yearbook photoshoot that the latter is working at.
The two take a liking to each other with Kane chaperoning Valentine for a show in New York City as well as assist him on some business ventures he has ideas for as the first one involves selling waterbeds. Yet, Kane being an adult and Valentine being immature causes tension with Valentine takes interest in other girls including Kane while he would take her to acting auditions as she is opening to doing nude scenes which upsets Valentine. The script doesn’t just play into the relationship but also their encounters with famous people and such during that period including an aging film star in Jack Holden (Sean Penn), a crazy filmmaker in Rex Blau (Tom Waits), the film producer Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper), and the politician Joel Wachs (Benny Safdie) as they’re all based on real people with Peters and Wachs actually being real people. These encounters as well as the ambitions they have would also play into their own growing pains with Valentine being really naïve about his views of the world while Kane becomes aware of the gas crisis of that year that would majorly affect Valentine’s waterbed business.
Anderson’s direction is definitely stylish in the way he portrays the San Fernando Valley and its many areas as they are characters in the film yet it is a look at a time when things were simpler but also crazy. Shot on location in Encino, California with locations shot in and around areas in the San Fernando Valley, Anderson definitely uses a lot of wide and medium shots to get a scope of these locations while shooting in either actual locations of some restaurants or in places that were once there but have been recreated to capture that period that is the early 1970s. There is also an intimacy in Anderson’s direction where he does use close-ups whether it is to play into a character’s face or to play into the desire of a character such as a scene where Kane and Valentine are lying on a waterbed where the latter is looking at Kane and is thinking about doing something that she wouldn’t approve of as she is sleeping.
There are also scenes that do play into the culture including meetings with the owner of a Japanese sushi restaurant in Jerry Frick (John Michael Higgins) who would often talk to his wife in a bad Japanese accent to speak English to whomever he was married to at the time as Anderson definitely focuses on that man’s wife to show her discomfort. With co-cinematographer Michael Bauman, Anderson shoots the film on 35mm with camera lenses dating back to the 1970s to create this feel of the 1970s as there are a lot of colors for and grain for much of the scenes set at night outside including moments where there are little lighting in the film. Notably in some of the tracking shots he creates as it play into the atmosphere of some of the places the characters go to. Anderson definitely showcase this air of reality into the gas crisis of 1973 as everyone is affected including someone like Jon Peters who was then the boyfriend of Barbra Streisand as he’s just fucking insane. There are also a lot of these things as it relates to Kane and Valentine’s relationship where it is taboo considering that the latter is a minor yet he’s the one that is pining for the former who is aware that the idea of them having a relationship is wrong yet she also has feelings for him.
The film’s third act definitely play into the flaws of their relationship as it relates to the world of politics which Kane is interested in yet Valentine isn’t in favor of wanting to do something else that involves money. It doesn’t just show the interests of young people but also two people who are forced to face reality about the worlds they’re in as it proves that they need each other. Even as they realize that they’re still young as they live in a world that is ever-changing with adults who don’t have their shit together. Overall, Anderson crafts a majestic yet intoxicating film about two young people trying to find themselves in the San Fernando Valley in 1973.
Editor Andy Jurgensen does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with a few rhythmic cuts and a few montages that play into memories or ideas the protagonists have. Production designer Florencia Martin, with set decorator Ryan Watson and art director Samantha Englender, does amazing work with the look of some of the restaurants the characters go to as well as a gathering where a bunch of kids try to sell things and other stuff. Costume designer Mark Bridges does brilliant work with the costumes from the casual clothes some of the characters wear including jeans and shirts as well as some of the stylish clothes that both Kane and Valentine wear. Hair designer Lori Guidrox and makeup designer Heba Thorisdottir do fantastic work with the look of the characters including Jon Peters with his stylish hair as it play into his over-the-top persona.
Special effects supervisor Elia P. Popov and visual effects supervisor Laura J. Hill do nice work with some of the visual effects which is largely set dressing for some exterior scenes as well as a major scene involving a motorcycle stunt. Sound editors David Acord and Christopher Scarabosio do superb work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of the locations as well as the way certain things sound from afar. The film’s music by Jonny Greenwood is incredible for its low-key orchestral based score that is used sparingly that also include covers of a few songs while music supervisor Linda Cohen creates a music soundtrack that features an array of music from the 60s and 70s that include David Bowie, Sonny & Cher, the Doors, Gordon Lightfoot, Todd Rundgren, Nina Simone, Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman, Chuck Berry with the Steve Miller Band, Paul McCartney and Wings, Seals and Croft, Donovan with the Jeff Beck Group, the James Gang, Blood, Sweat, & Tears, Taj Mahal, Mason Williams, the Congregation, Chico Hamilton Quintet with Buddy Collette, and Clarence Carter.
The casting by Cassandra Kulukundis is marvelous as it feature appearances and cameos from John C. Reilly as Fred Gwynne playing Herman Munster at a convention, Ryan Heffington as Peters’ assistant Steve who really works for Barbra Streisand, Emma Dumont as a stewardess named Brenda, Milo Herschlag as Valentine’s younger brother Greg, James Kelley as a fellow child actor in Tim, Tim Conway Jr. as a casting director, Maya Rudolph as the casting director’s assistant Gale, Destry Allyn Spielberg as a Japanese restaurant waitress who had a fling with Valentine, Isabelle Kusman as a young girl named Sue Valentine meets at the opening of his waterbed shop, Iyana Halley as a wig shop clerk, George DiCaprio (Leonardo’s dad) as a wig shop owner who introduces Valentine to the waterbed, Jon Beavers as a creepy guy late in the film, Nate Mann as a political volunteer that Kane befriends, Joseph Cross as Wachs’ dinner guest, Yumi Mizui and Megumi Anjo as Frick’s Japanese wives whom he speaks in a bad Japanese accent towards them, Ray Chase as the KMET radio deejay B. Mitchell Reed, Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Valentine’s mother who manages his career, and Skyler Gisondo as a child actor in Lance whom Alana briefly dates until an awkward dinner with her family.
The performances of Moti Haim, Donna Haim, Este Haim, and Danielle Haim in their respective roles as Kane’s parents and Kane’s older sisters are fun to watch with Moti being the cantankerous father who often spouts profanity. Harriet Sansom Harris is fantastic in her one-scene performance as Valentine’s agent Mary Grady who interviews Alana as a favor for Valentine where she takes a liking to her. John Michael Higgins is terrific as the Mikado Restaurant owner Jerry Frick who does business with Valentine often talks to his Japanese wives in a racist accent that often brings a look of discomfort to whomever he is married to. Christine Ebersole is superb as Lucy Doolittle as a major TV star that is inspired by Lucille Ball who makes an appearance at a show in New York City where she definitely has issues with Valentine who humiliates her on TV as she wanted to kill him. Benny Safdie is excellent as the real-life politician Joel Wachs as a man filled with ideals that appeal to Kane yet is someone that has secrets of his own which were taboo at that time.
Tom Waits is brilliant as Rex Blau as a filmmaker based on Mark Robson who is a friend of Jack Holden as he would help stage a stunt that Holden used to do where Waits brings that sense of charisma and command as a man who knows how to get people’s attention. Bradley Cooper is incredible in an over-the-top yet spot-on performance as the famed film producer Jon Peters who was then Barbra Streisand’s boyfriend/hairdresser as a figure of masculinity who threatens Valentine on the job he is to do while also being a buffoon of sorts who is just trying to be cool. Sean Penn is amazing as Jack Holden as an aging film actor based on William Holden who does an audition with Kane and tries to get her to take part in a stunt that he did in a film with Blau as Penn does bring that sense of old Hollywood that clashes with the New Hollywood that was happening at the time.
Finally, there’s the duo of Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman in tremendous debut performances in their respective roles of Alana Kane and Gary Valentine. Haim’s performance is full of energy as a young woman that is still trying to find herself where she would aid Valentine in a bunch of things where she is put into humiliating situations while reminds herself that he’s still a kid. Hoffman’s performance also exudes energy as someone who is enthusiastic and has a lot of charm to get what he wants but is still a teenager who is indifferent to the realities of the world of around him as he has trouble coping with that reality whenever he fails. Haim and Hoffman together are a joy to watch in not just the chemistry they have but also in the mixture of humor and drama they bring to their roles and the situations they’re in as they are a major highlight of the film.
Licorice Pizza is a magnificent film from Paul Thomas Anderson that features great leading break-out performances from Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman. Along with its supporting ensemble cast, exploration of growing pains, dazzling visuals, offbeat humor, and a sumptuous music soundtrack. The film is a fascinating coming-of-age story that play into the relationship of two young people who are both trying to find themselves during a crazy year in the San Fernando Valley while encountering people and worlds that are strange and entrancing. In the end, Licorice Pizza is an outstanding film from Paul Thomas Anderson.
P.T. Anderson Films: Hard Eight/Sydney - Boogie Nights - Magnolia - Punch-Drunk Love - There Will Be Blood - The Master (2012 film) - Inherent Vice - Junun - Phantom Thread - One Battle After Another
Related: The Shorts & Videos of P.T. Anderson - The Auteurs #15: Paul Thomas Anderson
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